Pinus thunbergii aka Black Pine

Pinus thunbergii, also known as black pine, Japanese black pine, and Japanese pine, is a type of pine tree that is native to coastal regions of Japan and South Korea. In Korean, it is called gomsol, while the Chinese refer to it as hēisōng, and the Japanese call it kuromatsu. This tree can grow up to 100 feet tall in its natural habitat, with an umbrella-shaped crown and thick, platy gray-black bark. There are more than 40 clones of Pinus thunbergii in Japan, where they have been collected and propagated. The selected clones tend to be smaller, with a height that rarely exceeds 30 feet. As a two-needle pine, it has deep green needles that are four to five inches long and persist on the tree for four to five years. The needles are held in a half inch long silvery band at the base. The candle-shaped terminal buds of the Japanese black pine are two centimeters long, silvery white in color, and are a distinctive identifying characteristic of the species. The cones of the tree are ovoid in shape, two to three inches long, and require two years to mature. As a houseplant, Japanese black pine is relatively rare but easy to grow. It needs regular watering to thrive and does best in direct, long-lasting light less than one foot away from a window. The tree prefers soil that is well-draining and should be repotted each time it doubles in size. Japanese black pine belongs to the Pinus genus and is native to Japan and South Korea.